Chapter Text
Louis
Louis didn't want to get up. Why couldn't the summer last one more day? He rolled on his bed, refusing to open his eyes.
"Just one year," he thought. "One more and it'll be over forever."
"Louis! Wake up!" Louis heard his sister Lottie knocking on his door. He had four little sisters sisters: Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy and Phoebe.
Lottie waited ten seconds for an answer that never came, so she opened the door and ran to Louis' bed. She was only six years younger than him, but she sometimes acted like a five year old instead of an eleven year old.
"Mum's already made breakfast. She says you're going to be late for school if you don't come to the kitchen in the next five minutes." Lottie said.
Louis finally opened his eyes. The first thing he saw that morning was Lottie's big round eyes staring at him.
"Tell her I'll be down in five." He said.
"Okay." Answered Lottie. She skipped her way out of her brother's bedroom.
Louis couldn't understand why she was so happy about going to school.
He sighed and jumped out of bed. Half asleep, he went to the bathroom and took a shower.
Just like he promised, five minutes later he arrived at the kitchen.
"Good morning, darling." said his mum, hugging him.
"Hi Mum."
Louis sat down on a chair. He poured some milk and cereals into a bowl.
"Excited for your first year of secondary school, Lottie?" Asked their mother.
"Yup." Said Lottie with her mouth full.
"But not for long..." Muttered Louis.
His mum gave him a death stare, to which he replied with an innocent smile.
He finished his breakfast soon after.
The bell rang, and Louis got on his feet to greet his two best friends, Niall and Liam.
"Louis!" They both shouted.
"Hi!" He screamed, not caring about waking up Daisy and Phoebe.
"Come on, mate." said Liam. "We can't be late on our first day."
"You're such a nerd, Payno." Said Louis, rolling his eyes. Liam gave him a friendly push.
The three of them talked about their summer on their way to school. Liam had gone with his parents to Rome, and Niall went to a music camp where he learnt to play the guitar.
Niall, Liam and Louis were laughing and chatting loudly when they got inside, so they didn't hear the steps of someone walking towards them.
"Hi!"
The three friends jumped and turned around to face the boy who had said that.
He was a bit taller than them. His hair was brown and his eyes green. Louis thought they were a very special shade of green, and he absolutely adored them. He was wearing an expensive-looking white shirt and some black jeans.
"Hi!" He repeated. "I'm Harry Edward Styles, but you can call me Harry."
Louis, Niall and Liam shared a glance. Who the hell said their first, second and last names? Harry looked nice, though. He had a big smile on his face.
"Hey, I'm Liam." He said. Harry and Liam shook their hands.
"I'm Niall. Nice to meet you."
Harry turned around, and his gaze met Louis'. Both of them froze right there, on the spot.
"Um, hi." Said Harry, shyly.
"Hi. I'm Louis." He really didn't know what to say.
None of them said anything. It was a really uncomfortable silence.
Finally, Liam said:
"So, I guess we should be going to class."
They walked to the maths classroom. Niall and Liam sat next to each other, right infront of Louis and Harry.
"Hey, Louis."
Louis turned to face Harry.
"What?"
"Who's that?" Asked Harry, pointing at a black haired boy who was sitting in a corner, alone. He was reading his textbook and didn't realise Harry and Louis were staring at him.
"Oh, that's Zayn. He doesn't have any friends. Liam's tried a couple times talking to him, but he doesn't really like spending time with other people. I guess that's why he's always alone." Said Louis.
"Well that's not very good. How can he be happy if he doesn't have any friends?" Questioned Harry.
"Shh! Mr. Wilson is coming!" Shouted Niall.
"I don't think he's very happy." Mumbled Louis.
Math class was very boring. Niall fell asleep after ten minutes, Liam was trying his best to understand what Mr. Wilson was talking about, and Harry kept staring at Louis, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
The class was only 90 minutes long, but it felt like three years had passed when Mr. Wilson finally left the classroom. Everyone got up and started leaving the classroom; Zayn was the first one out.
"Wake up, you idiot!" Shouted Liam, smacking Niall in the head. The blond boy jumped on his seat.
"I'm awake! I've always been awake!"
Liam looked at him in disbelief.
"Oh really? So what's today's homework?" He asked.
"I was just gonna ask you that."
---
It had been a very long morning, and Louis, Liam, Niall and Harry were on their way to the school cafeteria.
"I'm exhausted after all this hard work." Said Niall, falling on the chair.
"Exhausted? Niall, you've spent all day sleeping." Laughed Liam.
"I was tired, okay? Besides, it's not like I'm gonna sleep through the whole year."
"You did that last year!" Exclaimed Liam.
"Yeah, but I've matured." Said Niall, with his mouth full of food. "By the way, this is the best lasagna I've ever eaten."
Liam rolled his eyes.
"So, Harry, do you like the school?" He asked.
The curly haired boy smiled.
"Yeah, it's great. Louis' been introducing me to all of his mates, and they're really nice. He's also showed me the gym, and the football pitch, and the science lab... I love everything about this place." Answered Harry, staring at Louis with a big smile.
"Aw, that's lovely, Harry." Said Niall, looking at both of them. Harry blushed.
They finished their food and went to the gym. Mr. Higgins, the P.E. teacher, arrived ten minutes late.
"Everybody listen up!" He shouted. "Since it's the first day, we're just going to play a game of dodge ball."
The whole class cheered, but Mr. Higgins silenced them.
"But, I'm going to make the teams." He announced.
This time, everybody booed.
Liam and Harry were in team A, along with Zayn. Niall and Louis were on team B.
The game started. Everybody started throwing the four balls they were playing with, running around and falling to the ground. Liam was the first to be hit, followed by Niall.
An intense half an hour later, only three people were left. On team A, Harry and Zayn, who turned out to be surprinsingly good. And on team B, just Louis. They were playing with only one ball now, and Louis had it. Without thinking twice, he threw the ball with all his strengh to the other side of the room.
It hit Zayn right in his chest, and then fell to the ground.
Zayn walked towards the benches and sat next to Liam, who patted him in the back.
Harry picked up the ball from the ground and held it tight. He stared at Louis, and their gazes met.
Both of them froze.
Blue and green.
Those were the only colours they could see. They only had eyes for each other.
Harry started walking towards Louis subconsciously.
It was a magical moment. Louis and Harry wished it could last forever, but it was interrupted when one of the boys from the class shouted:
"Come on, Harry. You got this!"
Louis and Harry suddenly remembered they were at gym class and Harry was supposed to throw the ball.
But Louis couldn't stop looking at Harry. His hair was wet with sweat and it was covering part of his face-
BAM!
The ball hit Louis right in the face.
Everybody from team A ran to hug Harry and congratulate him.
"We won, man!"
"Harry! Harry! Harry!"
"It's Harry Edward Styles everyone!"
"You really hit him right in the face. It was insane!"
Yes, Harry knew he had hit him right in the face. He pushed his mates put of the way to get to Louis, who was standing in the middle of the gym.
"Hey, Louis. Are you okay?" He asked.
Louis jumped when he heard Harry, because he hadn't seen him coming.
"What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm good." Answered Louis, not really knowing what they were talking about.
"I'm really, really sorry." Insisted Harry. "I didn't mean to hit you in the face.
"Harry, I'm fine. Don't worry." Said Louis.
"Let's get out of here." Suggested Harry. As they were walking outside of the gym, he said, in a lower voice. "They think I'm a star. But actually, I just won because you were distracted."
"It's not such a big deal, Harry. It's just a game." Said Louis, taking off his sports t-shirt.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Mumbled Harry, staring at Louis' chest. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off the boy.
---
"Finally! I thought it was never going to end!" Shouted Niall, while they were walking out of the History classroom, the last class of the day. It had been a particularly boring lesson about the shapes of the stones used in the paleolithic, during which Niall had an amazing nap.
"Niall, it's just the first day. You do know this is gonna be hour life for the next nine months, right?" Said Liam.
"Yeah, I know! But give me a rest, it's just the first day!" Niall protested.
Louis and Harry lived very near each other, so theysaid goodbye to Niall and Liam and went their way.
"How was your first day?" Asked Louis.
"Awesome. You know, this school is much better than my previous one." Said Harry with a big smile in his face.
"Harry, why did you move? And why did your parents choose Doncaster to be your home?"
Harry froze on the spot. He played with his hair and breathed deeply before answering Louis' question.
"My dad found a new job here." He said.
"Oh, that's nice." Louis didn't know what more he could say.
They kept walking and chatting, ignoring that little uncomfortable moment.
"I've got loads of sist-." Louis couldn't finish his sentence because Harry grabbed his hand and started to run. "Harry! What are you doing?"
"Quick! There's only five seconds left!" Harry shouted. He pointed at the countdown on the traffic lights, and Louis understood what he meant.
Both of them ran as fast as they could across the street, reaching the other side just in time. They breathed deeply while smiling. They continued to walk to their homes, without letting go each other's hand.
---
Louis walked into his house. The moment he stepped inside he knew something was not right. And when he heard the first scream, his worst fears were confirmed.
His mother and step-father were fighting. Again. They didn't want to divorce because it was too expensive, but they didn't love each other any more.
Louis went upstairs silently. He could hear Daisy and Phoebe crying, and Lottie trying to calm them down. Fizzy was probably asleep.
He went into his room and grabbed a bag of cigarettes. Without thinking, he took one out and lit it. He was only sixteen and nine months, so he legally couldn't smoke. But Louis was sure no one would mind. After all, he wasn't the only one.
Louis jumped on his bed and closed his eyes. He could here his parents fighting, but he was too tired to care. It happened every single day. Everyone would wake up happily, but when Mark would get home from work, everything would change. Him and Jay would start fighting, Daisy and Phoebe would cry and Lottie would have to take the twins upstairs to calm them down.
And it didn't help Fizzy get better, quite the opposite.
Louis tried to help Lottie when the whole situation started, but he got tired, and stopped caring. He knew it would end when Mark would go back to work, so why worry?
He closed his eyes, completely ignoring everything around him.
The hours passed. He didn't fall asleep, but he didn't get up from his bed either. He just kept smoking.
It was well passed dinner time (no one in the house ate anything) when it was finally time for Mark to go to work. He said goodbye to his daughters. He stopped by Louis' door and opened it a bit, just enough for him to see the boy laying in his bed.
"Goodnight, Louis." Said Mark.
"Go away." Answered Louis.
Mark sighed and left the house.
The moment Louis heard the door shut, his mum burst into his room. He didn't get up, but he opened his eyes. Jay walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed, right next to her son.
"Hi, honey. How was school today?"
Louis sat next to his mum, not looking at her directly.
"Great. I've made a new friend, Harry. He's new and he lives near our place." He said.
"Oh, really? That's very nice. You could ask him if he wants to come over some day." She said.
"Can he? Really?"Asked Louis, with a big smile on his face.
"Of course." His mum kissed forehead. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Lou."
"Good night."
Louis' mum walked out of the room and closed the door just two seconds before Louis phone rang. He picked it up, expecting it to be Niall asking him what their homework was.
But to his surprise, it isn't Niall. He doesn't recognize the number, but he still answers the call.
"Hello?" He said.
"Hi! It's me, Harry."
"Oh, hi Harry." Said Louis. He didn't know what to say. Why was Harry calling him?
"So, um. I was wondering... The project we have to do for school... Would you like to do it with me? We could go to the library..." A very nervous Harry got interrupted by a suddenly very happy Louis.
"Or you could come to my house! I mean, yes, yes. I'd love to do it with you."
"Are you serious?" screamed Harry, very clearly happier than before.
They talked about absolutely everything, from Harry's holiday in Miami to the food Louis' god eats. The phone call ended two hours later, because Harry's phone ran out of battery. Louis jumped on his bed and closed his eyes, head on the pillow.
All of his problems had disappeared, just by talking to Harry.
---
Harry
It hadn't been easy.
It hadn't been easy saying goodbye to his friends. It hadn't been easy packing up all his stuff into some boxes. It hadn't been easy seeing the building that had been his home for seventeen years completely empty.
But he had to do it. He didn't have any choice.
He will always remember that day his parents came into his room, saying they had to move to a place called Doncaster because of his father's "job".
Honestly, Harry didn't think he would make any friends in Doncaster. He didn't know anybody there.
And when he found himself in a school full of strange kids he didn't know, he felt like he wanted to die. Everyone ignored him, like he didn't exist. But then he saw three boys who looked the same age as him. They seemed nice people, but a brunette with blue eyes caught Harry's attention. He wanted to talk to him, he wanted to be friends with him, he wanted to be with him. He didn't know how to explain what he was feeling. It was just special, like nothing he had felt before. So, he built up the courage to walk up to the three boys and talk to them.
Surprisingly, it worked out. In fact, it worked out very well. The boys, Niall, Liam and Louis (the special blue-eyed one) were very friendly and inmediatly made him feel loved.
There were two moments Harry absolutely adored about that day.
First, Math class. It was very boring- extremely boring, in fact. But he was sitting right next to Louis. He could stare at Louis for 90 minutes. He really didn't care abotu Maths, just Louis.
Second, right at the very end of the day, their phone call. It was Harry's first group project in Doncaster. They could do it in pairs or in groups of three. Liam and Niall were doing it together, but he wasn't sure if Louis was with them. He didn't want to be alone, so he called Louis as soon as he could.
And, for the second time that day, things turned out surprisingly well. Much, much better than what he had expected. Because it wasn't a five minute long talk about a school project, but a two hour long conversation about -literally- everything. They got to know each other better. Of course, there were many things they hadn't talked about, but it still was Harry's favourite moment of the day.
He looked at the drawing on his notebook. He loved making drawings about important things in his life. That afternoon, he drew one on a new notebook. It was the first drawing he made in Doncaster, and he was really proud of it.
Five people appeared in the drawing. In the middle of the page, Harry was hugging a happy and smiling Louis from behind. Louis was wearing a t-shirt with blue stripes and red jeans. Harry, on the other hand, was wearing a white t-shirt and white jeans with a blue jacket. A bit behind Louis and Harry, Niall and Liam were making heart shapes with their hands while pointing at them. And right on the corner, barely visible, Harry had drawn Zayn. He was just sitting down in the white background, looking at the four friends the same way Harry caught him staring at them that day during History.
Harry didn't even know why he decided to draw that in the first place, but he was glad he did. All of his drawings were just for himself, so he could look at them when he's old and smile, remembering those fun teenage years.
It was very late, so Harry decided it was time to go to bed. The moment he lay down on his bed, he fell asleep.
And he dreamt about hugging the warm body of a certain blue-eyed special boy. But he didn't remember any of it the next morning, and maybe it was better that way.